It’s amazing how I’m becoming less and less into sweets. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love a good dessert. But sometimes I find the sugar so overly cloying. Like in pecan pie.

But with pecan pie being so traditional and all, I didn’t want to just cut it out of my life without at least trying. So try I did. And succeed, oh yes, I did!

Enter Mexican Hot Chocolate – the sweet and spicy rich chocolate drink with just the right amount of kick. I love how the bittersweet chocolate and chili balances out the sweetness in this pie. It totally works.

I’ve done this before with brownies, and it has become one of my most favorite recipes. My guests always ooh and ahh over my Duncan Hines fix, thinking I spent hours perfecting the best brownie recipe.

With pecan pie, it’s just the same. The filling is really fairly simple, and if you use a frozen pie crust like I did (insert-surprised-emoji-face-here), it’s as easy as 1-2-3.

This beauty is being gifted to Melinda of kitchen-tested for her pie bar tomorrow, which I will be lucky enough to be sampling from, after her crazy Thanksgiving feast! Sorry that I had to slice it open Mel!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for a play by play of Melinda’s incredible meal! Happy Thanksgiving!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside.

In a bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt and stir to combine. Slowly add in the chocolate, mixing as you go, until completely incorporated. Stir in the cinnamon, cayenne and cocoa nibs.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and top with pecan halves (they will float). Bake for 50-60 minutes, until pie is set and jiggles just a little in the center. Cool completely, at least 4 hours, before serving.

Thanksgiving is coming up and all I can think about is stuffing. Particularly cornbread stuffing. It’s my absolute favorite! Make that chorizo cornbread stuffing and Ill take two portions please :)

Believe it or not, I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving. My mom used to make us turkey sandwiches, just for kicks. And sometimes she’d make some Thanksgiving dishes for Shabbat the week of Thanksgiving. I always wanted to experience the whole turkey-gravy-stuffing-pumpkin pie-cranberry sauce-green bean casserole smorgasbord, but I’m kind of too lazy to make it all! Lucky for me, my friend Melinda from kitchen-tested is doing the whole shebang, and I kind of invited myself over! Melinda is an amazing cook and I cannot wait to see what she has up her chef”s sleeve. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, because I will definitely be posting pics from that sure-to-be-epic meal!

Speaking of lazy, this unstuffed mushroom recipe can also be called lazy stuffed mushrooms, because that is, in fact, what it is. I was digging through my fridge for a side dish the other week, and I found all the ingredients I would need to make stuffed mushrooms. Except I was too lazy to make stuffed mushrooms, so I made unstuffed ones! I added some roasted chestnuts and Chardonnay for a truly festive dish, perfect for your Thanksgiving meal!

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the mushrooms and thyme. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are caramelized and the liquid has evaporated, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and chestnuts and saute until fragrant. Add the chardonnay and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the sprigs of thyme and add the baby spinach, cooking until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

NOTE: this recipe calls for roasted chestnuts that are sold in a bag, not canned water chestnuts. You can also roast your own chestnuts, here’s how.

I’ve wanted to make a bibimbap for the longest time, just so I can say the word bibimbap. It sounds like a hip hop dance, but it’s actually a Korean dish of warm rice topped with sauteed veggies, thinly sliced meat or tofu, a fried (or raw) egg and a spicy chili sauce. I decided to get creative with the bibimbap concept, and turn it into a a fun opportunity to use up Thanksgiving leftovers.

My Thanksgiving bibimbap includes some leftover sliced turkey, green beans, sauteed shredded pumpkin, roasted brussel sprouts, chestnuts and a fried egg. It’s finished off with a drizzle of sriracha cranberry sauce, the same one I used in this recipe. You’re welcome to adapt this dish based on your Thanksgiving leftovers, just be sure to keep things simple and not mix too many flavors.

What are some of the fun ways that you repurpose your Thanksgiving leftovers? I’d love to hear! Share them with me in the comments below!

In a food processor or blender, blend the cranberry sauce, soy sauce and sriracha until completely smooth. Set aside.

Heat a wok and drizzle with oil. Saute the shredded pumpkin or squash until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Do the same with the green beans (you may add a splash of soy sauce) and coat with sesame seeds, set aside. Add the pumpkin, turkey, green beans, brussel sprouts and chestnuts to a large shallow bowl, separating them by sections. Top with a fried egg. and drizzle with cranberry sauce.

Being a food blogger has awarded me such amazing possibilities! Getting a chance to work with some amazing kosher products is one of them!

When I was approached about working with Morad’s amazing Danue line of fruit flavored wines, I was all over it! We’re talking sweet fruity flavors like pomegranate, lychee and passion fruit – oh my! Have I ever told you how much I adore passion fruit?

Passion fruit is not exactly readily attainable in New York. Case in point: I actually forked out a whopping $3.99 for ONE little round one to make the blessing of a new fruit (Shehechiyanu) on the Jewish New Year. I think that puts me at about $1.00 per seed. Still, I wanted to splurge on my favorite exotic fruit for the holiday – so I went all out. I’m thinking it’s time for another trip to Aussie, where they sell passion fruits like apples, to hoard up on the sweet and tangy delicate fruit.

When I heard that Morad had a passion fruit flavored wine in their collection – I was beyond excited to work with it! I wasn’t surprised to learn that it’s Morad’s best seller – who wouldn’t want alcohol that’s infused with the fruity goodness of passion fruits, hello?!

I set out to make the most of my passion fruit wine with both a cocktail and a dessert that would celebrate it’s exotic appeal. First…the dessert. To highlight the holiday of Succot – a time when we celebrate the overflowing harvest – I decided to go with a twist on the classic cream horn. The cream horn resembles a cornucopia; horn of plenty, that is a symbol of abundance. You’ll find cornucopia’s pouring forth with produce – especially around Thanksgiving time, making this dessert all the more appropriate.

Now I doubt you’ve ever seen a cornucopia filled with passion fruit cream – that is thanks to Morad’s amazing wine that I reduced down into a syrup which I used to spike the pastry cream. And not just any pastry cream. To keep it dairy free, I made the classic french custard with coconut milk, to highlight the tropical feel. My husband is a huge fan of custard-based desserts, so I couldn’t wait for him to be my taste tester when he got home from work. The man sure knows his pastry cream! Well let me tell you guys…one lick of the stuff and he said it was the best custard he’d ever had! I used the leftovers to make him a classic napoleon and he licked his fingers down to the last crumb. I’d call that a success! :)

As for the cornucopia’s themselves? Don’t be overwhelmed by their cuteness – these babies are such a breeze to make! All you need are some cream horn molds and frozen puff pastry and they’re done in under 15 minutes. Let me tell you – I’m not one for these involved pastry type of things, but they were truly super easy! Just MAKE SURE you lightly grease you molds before applying the puff pastry. Ask me how I know.

And don’t worry, if you can’t get your hands on the pastry molds in time for Succot, you can always wrap some sugar cones in foil and use those instead. They’ll be larger than traditional horns – but that just means more passion fruit cream for you!

To get the recipe for these passion fruit cream cornucopias, head on over to Joy of Kosher!

Now that we have our dessert all set, we’re onto the cocktail! I mean, you gotta have a cocktail right? Especially on Succot! To highlight the exotic passion fruit in this spiked smoothie, I decided to do a riff on the classic Pina Colada by using Morad Passion Fruit wine instead of rum. You can add the ice for a delicious slushy, or keep things light with a cocktail, sans ice. Either way, this fruity, creamy and lets face it – dreamy – cocktail is a winner!

To get the recipe for the Passion Fruit Colada, head on over to Joy of Kosher!

Thanks to Morad Wineries for the opportunity to work with their delicious fruity wine, and for sponsoring this post! I’m off to finish the bottle!

I was lying in bed one night thinking about how I could take advantage of the adorable little pumpkins that are so bountiful this season (yes, these are the sort of things food bloggers think about when they go to bed at night). I knew I could make my own pumpkin puree, or carve out a spooky design (although I don’t celebrate Halloween), but I wanted MORE. Something fresh, and exciting, and oh yes – warm (have you seen the weather forecast lately?!).

I thought about real comfort food – you know, something I’d want to eat around a fireplace (if I had one) on a cold November night. And it came down to – you guessed it! – chicken pot pie. At first I thought about reinventing the chicken pot pie and making a vegetarian version with pumpkin and autumn spices. That got me thinking about all the winter pumpkins soups that are cleverly served inside the pumpkin – when I realized – I could have my pumpkin and chicken pot pie and eat it too!

This recipe combines the flavor of fresh-roasted pumpkin with creamy parsnips, carrots and mushrooms. It’s seasoned with fresh thyme and sage and topped off with flaky puff pastry for the perfect fall comfort food!

And would you look at the festive autumn design on these beauties? These pretty pumpkin packages (say that three times in a row!) are as good to look at as they are to eat. They’d make the perfect appetizer for your Thanksgiving meal!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the tops off the sugar pumpkins and remove the seeds. Brush the insides of the pumpkins with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and allspice. Bake, flesh side down, until tender, about 30 minutes*.

Saute the onion in olive oil until golden and add garlic. Saute until fragrant. Add the carrots, parsnips and mushrooms and continue to saute until tender. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and continue to saute for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until thickened. Stir in the diced chicken, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Ladle the filling into the pumpkins and cover with a square of puff pastry. Cut leaves out of extra puff pastry and glue it to the squares with egg. Brush the remaining puff pastry with egg and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

*Don’t let the pumpkin get too soft or it will start to fall apart. You still want it to hold it’s shape (keep in mind that it will also be cooking for an additional 20 minutes when it’s covered in the puff pastry).

This is like the Chanukah cookie that wasn’t. Well, almost. You know that little thing called sleep? Those precious hours of rest that we all take for granted, until we haven’t had any? Well, I’m more than a little sleep deprived lately, and while I try to be organized about my blogging calendar, I all but forgot about today’s Thanksgivukkah linkup. I had planned to post these pumpkin ricotta pancakes/cheese latkes but you know what happens to plans when you’re a walking zombie. I did post them alright. Just a wee bit too early.

Sure, I could have skipped out on the linkup fun altogether, but the truth is, I was kind of excited about challenging myself to another Thanksgivukkah mashup recipe. And there’s something else too. I’ve got to come clean with y’all. Me, the serial non-baker. The one that swore off dough’s and pastries of any kind — has got the baking itch.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been baking. A lot. Cakes, bars, muffins and cookies. And I’m even kind of enjoying it. So when I realized I needed to come up with another Chanukah/Thanksgiving recipe, I went straight for my favorite of all baked goods – cookies!

I’ve been making lace cookies for years. so when I thought about what kind of cookie to make, I decided to adapt my classic lace cookie recipe to include pecans as a riff on pecan pie. Then, instead of filling the cookies with chocolate, I used raspberry jam, ala Chanukah jelly donuts, and finally, instead of a the traditional chocolate drizzle over the top, I decorated the florentines with Chanukah symbols. What I didn’t realize is just how amazing everything would come together. Raspberry jam, chocolate and lacy pecan cookies are like a match made in heaven!

I hope y’all enjoy my last minute Thanksgivukkah recipe. Be sure to check out all the other great mashup recipes in the Kosher Connection linkup below!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet* (if you are using an aluminum cookie sheet, make sure it’s completely flat without any indentations). Add the corn syrup, shortening and brown sugar to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla, salt, flour and pecans. Drop batter by level tablespoon onto the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake for approximately 7 minutes, until set. Cool for 5 minutes**.

Spread good quality raspberry jam over cookies and pair to create sandwiches. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and decorate the tops of the cookie sandwiches with Chanukah symbols.

*You do not need to grease the baking sheet again in between each batch as the cookies will leave a greasy residue.

**Do not try to remove the cookies from the baking sheet until they have cooled COMPLETELY.

NOTE: If the batter gets too cold and sticky to handle, rewarm it over low heat, or, you can keep the batter warm by placing the saucepan over hot water.

TIP: Spread the raspberry jam on the cookies before serving. If done too far in advance, the cookies will become soggy.

I bet you didn’t think it could get any better than good old pumpkin pancakes. How about pumpkin ricotta pancakes with some cranberry maple syrup to top it off? Thanksgiving heaven, wouldn’t you say? This is fair warning: you might want to get yourself some tissues. There’s going to be some drool involved.

I love pancakes. Any flavor suits my fancy. Blueberry corn and Speculoos Spiced are favorites, but gimme some cheese and I call ’em latkes. These old cheese latkes with raspberry sauce were my idea of a deconstructed donut. This year, I decided to get into the Thanksgivukkah spirit with some pumpkin flavored pancakes with a generous dose of ricotta and autumn spices. Whip ’em up on Chanukah or Thanksgiving morning – better yet – lunch, or even dinner (I am not beyond eating pancakes for dinner)…

I’m gonna go all Pioneer-Woman on you and throw in some extra photos for your drooling pleasure. I don’t know what was better, getting to eat these, or photographing them. They almost look too good to eat, don’t they?

Add the eggs, milk, brown sugar, ricotta, pumpkin and vanilla to a bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated, but still slightly lumpy. Heat a skillet and grease with butter or oil. Add 1/4 cup of batter and fry until golden brown on both sides. Continue with remaining batter, adding additional butter or oil, as needed.

Nothing goes together quite like pumpkin and cranberries – two fall favorites that complement each other like yin and yang. There’s also no better topping for pancakes than pure sweet maple syrup. Why not combine the two to make cranberry maple syrup over pumpkinlicious pancakes – a perfect pairing for the autumn holidays!

Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, until cranberries burst, about 10 minutes. Crush the cranberries with a fork or spatula and continue to simmer until thickened, 5-10 minutes.

Unless you are living in a cave somewhere far away (in which case you probably don’t have wifi), you’ve probably read about all the Thanksgivukkah hype. That’s right – it’s got it’s own name. By unusual coincidence, the first day of Hanukkah coincides with Thanksgiving this year. Apparently, this has not happened since 1888 an won’t happen again for another 70,000 years. Yes – seventy thousand years. Is that a cause for celebration? Well, why the heck not?

This whole Thanksgivukkah thing has taken the internet, and the world really, by storm. They’re making t-shirts, developing websites, and most of all – cooking up recipes that merge the “gobble, gobble” with the “latke’le latke’le”.

I couldn’t imagine being left out of the Thankgivukkah foodie frenzy. I mean, who would turn down the opportunity to converge some of the classic Thanksgiving flavors with Jewish/Chanukah themes?

I’ve got some fun recipes up my blogger sleeve, but in the meantime – we’ll start with this amazing sweet and creamy chestnut hummus. I decided to combine hummus and pita – traditional Israeli foods, with chestnuts and stuffing spices – traditional Thanksgiving flavors – to create this delicious appetizer. The chestnuts add a wonderful hint of sweetness to the hummus, while the savory stuffing spices create an addictive crunchy chip you’ll want to make again and again!

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. If the hummus is too thick, add more water until desired consistency is reached.

If you’ve ever roasted a turkey or made stuffing for Thanksgiving, you’re probably familiar with all of the delicious herbs and spices that are so often used. Sage, rosemary, and thyme are perfect compliments to roasted turkey, and apparently, to pita chips as well!

Add all the spices to a bowl and break up herbs with your fingers. Brush the pita wedges with olive oil and sprinkle spice mixture on the chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden and crispy.

Some people seem to think that cranberry sauce it just for Thanksgiving, but I happen to enjoy it all cranberry season! There are so many variations to make, and so many ways to enjoy it. My favorite is mulled wine cranberry sauce.

It you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may remember this celebratory post from my one year blogoversary, featuring mulled wine. I decided to combine two of my favorite holiday foods – mulled wine and cranberries – to create this out of this world dish. I’m sure it will become your favorite too!

For the recipe, hop on over to my blogger friend Mara at KosherOnABudget. I’ve also included lots of ideas for enjoying cranberry sauce. If you love bargains and freebies, her site is jam-packed with amazing deals and discounts for all around the web!